Wandering Gods of Day and Night
Chapter 107 - 103: The Missing Diary

Chapter 107: Chapter 103: The Missing Diary

Green Mist Mountain was swathed in miasmic vapors, with a clearing at the waist of the mountain.

This place was used all year round for the Great Sacrificial Rite of the Ancient Clan, the blood spilt during the rites dyeing the top layer of soil a purple-red hue.

Members of the Ancient Tattoo Clan would grind bones of varying lengths and bind them with tough ox sinews into a skeleton, resembling a meditating person.

In the abdominal area of the human-shaped skeleton, a small Netherworld Stone was placed, and then it would be wrapped with human skin.

This was the precursor ritual of the Ancient Tattoo Clan during the Blood Sacrifice — the Human Skin Temple.

The Copper Coin Priest took out a bone needle nurtured for many years, mixing blood, tree sap, and finely ground bone powder as pigments, and tattooing Zhou Xuan’s face onto the human skin in the form of a tattoo map.

Every stitch was meticulously made by the priest, sometimes preferring to pause rather than make an inaccurate stitch, to avoid any errors.

Only when the last stitch was made and the priest stepped back to see that Zhou Xuan’s face matched the one he envisioned did he command his clansmen: "The Human Skin Temple is constructed, commence the Blood Sacrifice!"

Inspired, the clansmen brought up the sacrifice — an aged blind man.

"Peng the Blind, the Nuo God has appeared. The clan has nurtured you since birth just for this moment."

"May I touch the face of the Nuo God?" The blind man, unable to wait, hurriedly reached out, fumbling in the air.

"Bring him over."

The Copper Coin Priest granted Peng the Blind’s wish.

Peng lightly touched Zhou Xuan’s face on the human skin, his hands feeling every needle hole of the tattoo, forming a vivid image in his mind.

"Good! Good! I have felt the visage of the Nuo God, you must bring him back, bring him back."

After saying this, the blind man withdrew his hands, lifting his head high, readying himself for the sacrifice, while the clansmen raised the axe used for beheading cattle, swinging it at his neck... Blood splattered onto the Human Skin Temple and the tattoos.

The tattoo map which was Zhou Xuan’s face twitched several times as it was splashed with blood.

The Copper Coin Priest held up the blind man’s severed head, respectfully placing it behind the Human Skin Temple at an angle where "Zhou Xuan" could gaze upon it.

Reciting spells, the flesh on the blind man’s head began to vanish piece by piece until only a white skull remained,

Yet the colors of the tattoo subtly changed; "Zhou Xuan" increasingly resembled a real face, prominently featured on the Human Skin Temple, blinking and breathing through its nostrils...

...

Underneath the Ancestor Tree, Zhou Family’s Troupe, Zhou Xuan felt an itch on his face, and scratched it lightly.

He had been meditating for a long time, sitting in the Black Water of the Divine Revelation Secret Realm, with the second incense floating near his shoulders.

"Hee hee... hee hee."

"Ha ha... ha... haha."

A woman’s laughter emerged during Zhou Xuan’s meditation.

The laughter sounded genuine, as if the woman had encountered something delightful, laughing heartily yet with an eerie undertone that sent shivers down the spine upon careful listening.

After a few bouts of laughter,

Zhou Xuan’s meditation once again fell silent, unable to sense any trace of anything regardless of how hard he tried.

He opened his eyes and saw that it was nearly dusk.

The courtyard of Zhou Family’s Troupe wasn’t as bustling as before, with far fewer people chatting after dinner compared to previous days.

"The troupe is doing well, there are fewer people idle."

Zhou Xuan sat up from the recliner, noticing a thin blanket spread over his lower belly.

"Is the meditation over?"

Zhou Lingyi, beside him, covered with a thin blanket similar to Zhou Xuan’s, asked with her eyes closed.

"Sister, I sensed a bout of laughter."

"Having a sensation is a good thing," Zhou Lingyi spoke with her eyes closed.

In Zhou Xuan’s memory, his sister spent most of her days resting with her eyes closed.

"Where’s Master?" Zhou Xuan did not see Yuan Buyu.

"Your master just regained some energy and went out for a walk."

Speaking of the master, the master appeared.

Yuan Buyu had returned from his walk and called out upon seeing Zhou Xuan: "Xuan, you gave me quite the scare a few days ago."

"Master."

"I should be calling you master instead," Yuan Buyu joked, asking, "Are you still storytelling tonight? I haven’t listened for a while, and I miss it."

"Yes!"

Zhou Xuan had his reasons for storytelling.

He wanted to try if the method of gathering incense used by the storyteller could be applied to the second incense,

if it could, then gathering incense would be very easy for him.

"Let’s not expect too much."

Zhou Lingyi promptly dampened Zhou Xuan’s spirits, saying: "If it were that simple, Nuodai wouldn’t be the most difficult Tangkou to practice."

"It’s just a simple little wish of mine," Zhou Xuan chuckled.

...

The more "simple" the wish, the harder it was to achieve.

Nowadays, Zhou Family’s Troupe was thriving, with the masters busy, reducing the number of idle chatters in the courtyard.

Nevertheless,

those who had spare time still came to listen to Zhou Xuan tell stories, not only harboring a love for his storytelling but also bringing devout worship for the newly emerged Nuo God,

Yet even so,

Zhou Xuan’s second incense burned brighter than before, but the incense did not burn down at all.

During storytelling, Zhou Xuan also tried using Dream Generation techniques,

discovering a pattern.

As the second incense, to use the method of the first incense—the storyteller’s technique, he needed to wear Bi Fang’s mask.

"If I weren’t wearing a mask, perhaps I could use the second incense’s technique, alas, I haven’t even found the opportunity for the second incense’s Tangkou."

...

After finishing the storytelling session, Xu Li and Yu Zhengyuan were in the room helping to make the bed, the couple beaming joyfully.